Traction Financial Partners LLC Decreases Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Traction Financial Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,494 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 130 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 0.6% of Traction Financial Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Traction Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $785,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Access Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the first quarter worth about $140,000. Hoese & Co LLP raised its stake in Apple by 6.7% during the second quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $175,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Sage Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Apple during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $206,000. Benchmark Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $208,000. Finally, SMH Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $209,000. 60.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total transaction of $13,433,768.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,416,137.76. This trade represents a 35.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 404,040 shares of company stock worth $91,062,512 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on AAPL. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday, October 25th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $256.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, November 1st. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Apple from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Loop Capital cut their price target on Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.51.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $225.00 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $226.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $215.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.40 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.01, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $237.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.46 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.45%.

Apple Profile

Apple Inc designs, manufactures, and markets smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables, and accessories worldwide. The company offers iPhone, a line of smartphones; Mac, a line of personal computers; iPad, a line of multi-purpose tablets; and wearables, home, and accessories comprising AirPods, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Beats products, and HomePod.